Happy's Past
by JJJJA
Summary: This takes place sometime after the season 1 finale. A new case brings up bad things from Happy's past. Mostly about Quintis. This will be a multi-chapter. Rated T for mention of sexual abuse.
1. Chapter 1

Happy's Past

The team was gathered around Sylvester's monitors as Cabe filled them in on their latest case. It wasn't like anything they had worked on before. They were being tasked with bringing down a sex trafficking ring.

"This is our guy" Cabe was saying as Sylvester brought up a mug shot. "His name is Eric Layton. He's a suspected . . ."

"Son of a bitch!" Happy slammed her fist into the table she was sitting on and stormed out of the garage slamming the door open as she left. The entire team stared after her and then turned to look at Toby.

"Toby!" Walter said in an exasperated tone.

"What? I didn't do anything. I was just standing here listening to Cabe like everyone else."

"As I was saying . . . ", Cabe said, bringing back their focus "This is Eric Layton. He is a suspected pedophile who skipped bond 15 years ago. Apparently, he has been holed up in Mexico and has allied himself with a drug cartel. He's spent the past few years running the sex trafficking side of their operations. Latest intell suggests he is back in LA. We need to locate him ASAP and the 30 plus minors he helped smuggle across the border before dawn this morning."

"Guys!" Sylvester interrupted. "This is bad. I just pulled his record. He skipped bond so he never went to trial, but . . . there was a list of suspected victims and potential witnesses. Guys . . . Happy is on the list."

"What!" Toby and Walter said almost simultaneously.

"I had no idea. I'm so sorry", said Cabe apologetically as he looked around at everyone's faces. "Look, this Eric guy is a real dirt bag. He and his wife lived here in LA and took in foster kids. His victims got delivered to his doorstep. He would abuse them and pass them around to his friends."

"I think I'm going to be sick", Paige turned away from everyone with a hand over her mouth. "Poor Happy!"

"What are we going to do? Should someone go talk to Happy? Maybe we shouldn't take this case . . ." Sylvester suggested nervously.

"This guy is one sick bastard. Happy would want us to get this guy." Said Toby confidently. "I'm going to go outside and talk to her."

Walter put up his hand, "Toby, I'm not sure that's a great idea. She been pretty mad at you recently and this is really personal stuff. Maybe she'd be more comfortable talking to another female." He gestured at Paige.

Toby looked hurt. "I'm the psychiatrist. Besides, things have been a lot better between us since your car accident . . . I'm going!" He stood up and headed out the door.

When he stepped out the door Toby couldn't see Happy anywhere. He took some time to press the palms of his hands to his eyes and take a few deep breaths. Damn. He had no idea what he was going to say when he found her. Toby knew Walter had a good point about letting Paige talk to her but he couldn't bear the thought of Happy opening up to someone other than himself. Was it self-serving? Absolutely! If Happy Quinn was going to make an emotional connection to someone it was going to be to him.

Her white truck was still parked across the street so he knew she hadn't left although she could have walked somewhere. Toby was contemplating which direction to go when he heard a crash and muffled swearing. He finally found her sitting behind the garage next to a pallet of scrap metal. She looked small with her back against the wall and her knees pulled up.

She glanced up when he approached but looked away quickly and didn't say anything.

Toby sat down next to her and quietly waited. After a minute Happy broke the silence. "So did Walt send you out here to shrink me."

"No, I volunteered to come out here because I'm your friend. I'm here to listen if you want to talk or just sit next to you if you don't." Toby paused, ". . . and if you'd rather be alone then I'll go. But, just for the record I'd rather stay."

Happy looked up to meet his eyes and nodded. "Thanks." She whispered.

Surprisingly, Toby noted, she didn't appear angry.

"Actually, I have to admit, I kind of expected to find you back here smashing things."

Happy gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, I already did that." She pulled her right hand from between her knees where she'd been pressing it into a grease cloth. A long jagged cut marred the side of her palm and the cloth was covered in blood.

"Happy, what were you thinking. Why didn't you say something?" Toby chided while examining her hand. "You're definitely going to need stitches. Keep putting pressure on it. I'll run in to let everyone know and then I'm driving you to the emergency room."


	2. Chapter 2

Happy was standing next to his car when Toby came out of the garage.

"Here, get rid of that dirty rag and use these instead." Toby said tossing her some clean towels. A quick glance told him the bleeding from Happy's cut had slowed considerably.

"Doc?" Happy paused with the passenger door open. "I want to help with the case. If Cabe needs us . . . maybe we should stay here."

"That cut needs medical attention and don't worry about the case. Walter said they have things under control. They'll call if they need us. Come on." Toby motioned her into the car.

15 minutes later they walked into the emergency room. The waiting room was nearly full so Toby had Happy sit down and took her insurance card up to the front desk to register. As he was filling out some preliminary paperwork an ambulance pulled up to the double glass doors quickly followed by another.

Toby caught the attention of the admitting nurse as EMTs started pulling gurneys out of the ambulances.

"What do you think the wait time is?"

The blond haired women behind the desk smiled apologetically. "That's 2 gunshot wounds coming in." She nodded towards the ambulances, "And a full waiting room. I'd guess 3-4 hours. You might want to try County Hospital instead."

Toby sat down next to Happy and explained the situation. "We can stay here and wait or I can drive you to another hospital about 30 mins away. I think we'll have a better shot getting you in over there."

"This is stupid." Happy said angrily. "You're a doctor. You know how to do stitches, right?"

"Yes, technically." Toby hedged, "but you want someone that's experienced to do it. They'll do a better job, your cut will heal faster and there will be less scaring. Trust me."

"I do trust you. I trust you to stitch up my hand. Besides, it's possible we'll get to the other hospital and still have to wait just as long or longer."

"Happy, I haven't done sutures since I was in med school . . . on cadavers. I've never stitched up a live person before." Toby confessed taking his hat off and running a nervous hand through his hair.

"Good, then I'll be your first." Happy smiled and got to her feet. She thumped Toby on the back with her good hand, "Come on Doc. Let's go put that expensive Harvard Med training to good use."

As they walked out into the parking lot, Toby's phone started ringing. He fished it out of his back pocket and answered, "Hey Walt, what's going on?" After a few moments he replied, "No, we're just leaving. Happy decided she'd prefer amateur hour at the Cutis apartment instead." Toby threw a smirking Happy an annoyed look. "Nevermind. The point is we are only 5 minutes away from my apartment. Go ahead and send me the footage. I'll log in and take a look as soon as I get in front of my computer."

After another short pause he said, "No, she's good. Here, I'll pass her the phone." And handed the phone to Happy.

Happy put the phone next to her ear as they climbed into the car. "Hey, Walt . . . I'm fine, what do you need?" Toby started up his car and pulled out of the lot as Happy listened. "I don't remember what he did for work. Some kind of office job, if that helps. He wore a shirt and tie every day . . . No, I don't remember him being particularly computer savvy. It doesn't sound like him but it's been like 17 years. He had time to learn."

There was some more back and forth but Happy hung up as they pulled into Toby's apartment complex. "So how old were you when you lived with Eric?" Toby asked as they walked up the stairs. He wanted to get Happy talking about her past but was trying to be nonchalant.

Happy didn't answer immediately but said, "Ten years old" after an uncomfortable pause. When Toby opened the door to his place she quickly changed the subject, "Wow, Doc! Hoard much?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting company." Toby said with a touch of embarrassment.

Truthfully, Happy thought, it wasn't that bad but there were books everywhere. Open books covered the kitchen and coffee tables and even some of the counters. Huge medical volumes were stacked in the corners and on chairs.

"What is all this?" Happy gestured. "I mean, I know you like to read, but . . . ", she trailed off.

"I was helping Walt with his MS research. " He gave her a half smile as he quickly cleared off the kitchen table. "I may have gone a little overboard."

"You think?" Happy looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Toby moved quickly around the apartment straightening up and then back to his bedroom. Happy could hear a computer powering on as he called to her.

"Are you hungry? There is some leftover pizza in the fridge. I just need to take a look at some security footage Sly is sending over. It'll just take a few minutes."

"Actually, on second thought" he called, "Come here so I can look at your hand."

Happy walked into his bedroom and extended her hand. She glanced around as Toby examined her. His décor was masculine in black and grays and she approved of the simplicity. His bed was unmade and the sheets were all tangled in a heap. Happy decided he was probably a restless sleeper and briefly wondered what it would be like to share a bed with him.

"I'm going to put a bandage on it temporarily so you can move it around more easily and eat lunch." He said pulling out a first aid kit. "I'll stitch it up as soon as I get done with the security tape."

"What's Sylvester sending you?" She asked with interest as Toby put a gauze pad to the side of her hand and began taping it down. She knew he was trying to shield her from the case so that it wouldn't bring up bad memories but it was completely unnecessary. She wanted to help.

"They've got footage from several different border crossing check points. Cabe said the kids were brought across this morning sometime before dawn. Walt just wants me to analyze the behavior of the Border Patrol Officers. They're speculating that one or more were probably involved or paid off to look the other way."

"So I take it they have no idea what kind of vehicle they're looking for?" Happy reasoned.

Toby shook his head, "No, but they do know they came by road and would have had to cross at one of these points." He turned around to face the screen but paused over the keyboard. "Why don't you have some lunch? I'll join you in a minute." He said dismissing her.

"What, am I not allowed to see the tape?" Happy said heatly. "I know what you're doing but I don't need you to protect me from this case. I'm not made of glass."

He put his hands up in a calming gesture, "Ok, we'll both watch." Toby turned back around and tapped at the keyboard. After a couple seconds the security feed popped up. Toby leaned in closer and Happy stood behind looking over his shoulder. They watched silently for several minutes as cars and trucks pulled up, stopped, and moved on. The BP officers would talk to each driver, sometimes peering into the vehicle with their flashlights and sometimes not. Toby was fast forwarding in between cars but suddenly stopped and rewound the footage.

"Look, here." He pointed. They watched as one BP officer appeared to trip and fall into another spilling a can of soda all over him. Toby rewound and watched again. "He did that on purpose!" They watched as the soda covered officer entered the building presumably to clean up just as 2 large SUVs pulled up to the check point. Toby got out his phone and called the garage. He was relaying the information to Walter when Happy leaned over to get a better look at the screen.

"That's Eric!" she said grabbing Toby's shoulder.

"Walter, Happy just spotted Eric in the SUV." He was saying

"No, no, not in the car . . . he's the Border officer. The one that spilled the soda. This guy." Happy pointed to him on the screen.

Toby looked doubtful, "Are you sure?" but Happy persisted. "Yes! Tell Walter. Have them run facial recognition on him."

Toby again relayed the info to Walter. He listened briefly and then nodded to Happy. "Go get him. Keep us posted."

"Well done, Happy! That's definitely him." Toby congratulated. But she didn't appear to hear him. She just kept staring at the screen.

"Hap, I'm going to turn it off now. OK?" Toby said gently touching her arm. Happy recoiled like he'd struck her.

Recovering herself she tried to act nonchalant, "Sure. Of Course." She walked out of the room calling over her shoulder, "Can we eat now? I'm starving."

When Toby entered the kitchen Happy was already taking the leftover pizza out of the fridge. "So how old is this pizza?" she asked examining it.

"It's from last night." He answered, then added, "Are you OK?"

Toby pulled out a couple plates and handed them to Happy. "I'm good" She said busying herself with preparing food, "I was just surprised to see him."

"Do you want to tell me about Eric?"

Happy took her time putting the pizza slices in the microwave before turning to look at him. "I haven't decided yet." She said honestly.


	4. Chapter 4

Toby had expected an adamant refusal and was pleasantly surprised. There might be a chink in that armor after all he thought. He decided to push just a little more. "So what are you undecided about? Does that mean you aren't sure you want to talk to anyone or that you aren't sure you want to talk to me?"

The microwave beeped just then. She turned away to switch plates and take a few moments to think. Happy had wanted to tell him when he sat down next to her outside the garage. She'd wanted to put her head on his shoulder and cry. She just didn't know how.

"Look, I hadn't planned on telling anyone. Ever." She emphasized. "And now the whole team knows. Any hope I had of keeping this a big dark secret is gone."

Toby sat down at the kitchen table looking sad. "So it's me?"

Happy shook her head and placed their plates on the table. "I know I've been mad at you recently but you're still my best friend. There's no one else I'd talk to. I'm just not sure . . ." She faltered, not sure how to explain. "It's just really hard to talk about . . ."

"I know" Toby interrupted her reaching across the table to take her hand. He was still her best friend. He wanted to jump up and down and punch the sky.

Happy pulled away agitated. "I don't want you to look at me!" She blurted out.

"You . . . don't want me to look at you?" Toby asked confused.

"It's hard to talk about and I don't want you to watch me and psychoanalyze me while I tell you. Can you just be my friend and not Dr. Curtis?" She pleaded.

A brief smile crossed Toby's lips and he nodded his understanding. "I am your friend, Happy. And I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. If you think it would be easier, maybe you could tell me while I stitch up your hand. I'll have to put all my focus on doing the sutures and I won't have time to watch you or analyze you."

Happy looked relieved. "OK."

Toby changed the subject and they ate their pizza while talking easily about food and video games. Afterwards, he cleaned the table carefully with Lysol and started getting out medical supplies. He laid out a suture kit and syringe and started looking into cupboards and boxes. Happy watched him with interest. He kept running his hand through his curly hair. A few minutes ago he'd been relaxed and prattling happily about his favorite pizza place but now he was all business and frantic energy.

"You look a little nervous, Doc." Happy noted.

"I am nervous." He replied matter-of-factly. He'd located a vial of clear liquid and motioned for her to sit back down at the table. "Ok, I think I'm ready. Take off your jacket and sit across from me." He moved their chairs a little closer together as Happy removed her leather jacket. She was wearing a black tank top with thin straps. It was a surprisingly feminine look for Happy and he liked looking at her bare shoulders. He started to admire the rest of her figure when Happy cleared her throat.

Toby's attention snapped back. He muttered a vague apology while she looked at him coldly. "Perve." she said as she sat down.

"Ok, put your elbow here and angle your hand like this." He said showing her and then removing her bandage. "Hold your right hand steady with your left. I'm going to give you a couple shots of lidocaine."

"So you've never done this on the living before?"

"I've never done sutures on a live person before but I've done lots of injections." He said as he gave her four shots, 2 on each side of the long cut. "We just need to wait a few minutes for the lidocaine to take effect."


	5. Chapter 5

"How does it feel?" Toby asked as he threaded his needle.

Happy poked at her hand. "Totally numb. Let's do this." She held her hand out like she had before, holding it steady with her left.

Toby took a deep breath, "OK . . ." He pierced her skin with the needle and pulled the thread through. He then held up a flexible ruler to the cut and carefully positioned the needle to finish the first stitch.

"What are you doing with a ruler?" She asked watching him.

"The general rule of thumb is 5 or 6 stitches per inch and I just wanted to get an idea of what that distance looked like. Don't worry I'm pretty sure I won't mar you for life." He looked up into her dark eyes and smiled. "Why don't you tell me about the first time you met Eric?"

Happy bit her lip and took a few moments to think while Toby focused on her hand. She'd promised to tell him about Eric but this felt more intimate than she had expected, sitting close together with his hands on hers. At least he wasn't looking at her.

"I was ten when I went to live with Eric and his wife Rachael. It was my 6th foster home. They had a couple other foster kids too, younger than me but they were nice . . . I really liked living there." Toby looked up surprised and Happy smiled sadly. "Eric's hobby was building cars. When he found out that I liked that kind of thing he'd let me help. Every night after dinner we'd spend a couple hours in the garage working on it. I loved it. Weekends were the best. We'd spend all day working on the car or reading his mechanics magazines. Sometimes he'd take me to get parts or buy tools. We just talked all the time about cars and motorcycles."

"Anyway, one night Eric's friend brought over a broken CD player. While they were talking and drinking beers I took it out to the garage and fixed it. After that Eric started bringing home a lot of broken electronics (I don't know where he got it all), speakers, gaming consoles, just whatever. I'd fix it if I could or strip out the parts to build new stuff. It's all I wanted to do. I wasn't allowed to work on the car without Eric but he said I could use his tools while he was at work so the minute I'd get home from school I'd go out to the garage and work on my projects. And then in the evening I got to work on the car with Eric. The whole time I was growing up . . . that was the best it ever was." Toby could picture it clearly, a little 10 year old Happy who just wanted to build things. He suspected that most foster homes didn't give her that outlet.

"After, I lived with them for about 4 months Eric and Rachel sat me down and said they loved me and wanted to adopt me." Happy stopped talking for a moment. When she spoke again her voice was shaky. "I was so excited . . . but later that night when it was time for me to go to bed Eric wanted a hug and a kiss goodnight." She took a deep breath. "After I kissed him he said that I was kissing like a little kid and that he'd show me how to kiss like a grownup. He wanted to kiss every night after that. I didn't want to but I really wanted him to like me. And when I kissed him the way he wanted . . . he said he loved me."

Toby glanced up to see tears streaming down Happy's cheeks, "After a couple weeks he said that if I loved him I'd take off my underwear for him . . . I didn't want to and I started to cry . . . but Eric said that only babies cry . . . He said that he wouldn't let a baby work on his car or use his tools . . ." Happy laid her head on the table crying but still carefully holding out her hand for Toby. "Working on that car. It's all I wanted to do. So I didn't cry . . . I let him take my clothes off." She was sobbing and her hand was trembling badly. Toby was struggling to finish her stitches. He got up quickly and pulled down a tissue box, filled up a glass of water and pulled a pill container out of the cupboard. He knelt next to Happy and placed the water and tissue in front of her. Toby ran his hand over her black hair and down her back. "Happy, we're going to take a break, OK. We'll talk about Eric another time. Can you drink some water? I just have a few more stitches."

Happy raised her head slowly and started to wipe her eyes with her good hand. When she looked into Toby's compassionate eyes she started crying again and buried her face into his neck. Toby was awkwardly positioned on the floor but stroked her head with a whispered, "Shhhhh." All the while cursing himself inside his head. Asking her to open up about her past while performing a medical procedure had been idiotic. What was he thinking? And now here she was raw and vulnerable, and needing to be comforted. He just wanted to hold her and he couldn't. She still had a damn needle and thread attached to her hand.

Toby opened up the pill container and took one out. "Happy . . . Sweetheart . . . I only have four more stitches to go and we'll be done. I really need you to calm down."

She nodded and straightened up in the chair. "I'm sorry." She said wiping at her eyes.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Toby nudged the tissue closer. He placed the pill on the table. "Can you take this? It's a mild tranquilizer. It'll probably make you a little sleepy but you could lay down for a while after I'm done, OK?"

Happy wiped her face with the tissues and swallowed the pill. After a few more gulps of water she said, "I'm alright now. You can finish." She held out her hand. It was still trembling slightly. Toby sat down across from her again. He worked quickly as she silently watched.

"All done." He said getting up. Happy examined her hand. The stitches were small and even. He'd done a good job.

"Nicely done, Doc."

He smiled at her over his shoulder as he walked back into his bedroom. After a few minutes he came back out. "I made the bed. Do you want to take a nap?" He was holding a quilt in his arms.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted. Actually, I feel like I got hit by a truck . . ." She stood up and followed him to the bed.

Toby laughed. "I'm not surprised. It's been a pretty horrible day for you."

Happy sat on the side of her bed and started unlacing her boots. She thought about it – about getting to spending all day with him. "Not that horrible."

Happy climbed onto the bed and laid down on top of the comforter, her head on his pillow. Toby unfolded the quilt and spread it over her. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through her dark hair. "I'll stay with you if you want . . ."

Her dark brown eyes filled with tears again. "OK." He pulled off his shoes and walked around the bed to climb in behind her. He didn't get under the quilt but laid on top fitting himself snugly against her back. He wrapped is arm around her and held her as she continued to cry. When she quieted he rubbed her back and softly pulled her dark curls. His heart was full to bursting. He was touching . . . holding Happy Quinn. And he loved her.

He wanted more. Closer. Gently he pushed the strap of her tank top off her shoulder and kissed where it had been. Undressing her just a little felt intimate and sensual to him. Happy tensed beside him and he quickly buried his face in her hair and wrapped his arm around her tiny waist so she would understand. He wouldn't take it further.

She relaxed against him and fell asleep in minutes.


End file.
